Justice System

In reply to Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (19 November 2015).

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide): I have received the following advice:

There was a total of 37 criminal judgments in the Supreme Court outstanding at 30 October 2015, which included one trial by judge alone verdict which was reserved. I understand that 21 of these outstanding judgments have now been delivered, including the reserved verdict. No reserved judgment was outstanding for more than 12 months.

There was a total of 43 judgments reserved by judges of the Supreme Court as at 30 October 2015 and 22 of those have since been delivered. Two judgments have been reserved for more than 12 months and these are likely to be delivered by the end of February, after they have been outstanding for over 13 months.

I have not received a response from the Chief Judge of the District Court providing me with the relevant figures from the District Court.

I have raised the matter of outstanding judgments with the heads of the relevant jurisdictions and it is an ongoing focus of the government's justice reform project.